Remember when I first saw Insigne, during my perusing of the Serie A. The thing about having a gut instinct is that it's a reaction you should value far higher than any other. Because it's so instant, it makes it even more truthful. As soon as I saw Inisige, I was drawn to the way in which he moved with the ball and just his overall mentality when on the pitch.
The more I saw of him, the more I was convinced that he could potentially be the next big thing for Italy. He worked so well under Benitez that I demanded that he be in the Azurri. But I think once he got into the team, it may have been too early. Italy as a whole just were not ready and the blame cannot be solely put on Lorenzo.
You look at Balotelli. Who burst onto the scene with those two super G's against Germany in 2012, but has sort of faded away. I feared that would be the same situation for Insigne, who would again just wither away after an unsuccessful Italy stint. But with a new manager, Sarri, Insigne is very easily the best performer in the whole of the Serie A and is the very heartbeat of the team that both scores and creates. As football lovers we have to be thankful that a player this good is playing at an even higher level than he was previously.
I'm going to have to give a shout out to Sarri and compliment him on getting the best out of Insigne. He just did not look this good under Benitez. Even if it's still early and we cannot get too overexcited, I have to simply call it as I see it now. Every time Insigne gets the ball, Napoli look dangerous. He either makes a dangerous forward pass, or he is cutting inside and making defenders have to think twice before making a move. Higuain may be getting the goals, but without Insigne being the manifestor in midfield, he would not be getting that service. I've always said that having that creative type in your team is so vital. You look at Milan who don't have a midfield and no player who can get on the ball and try and make things happen, and they are suffering for it. Having a creator, it means when you are in a tight spot, every other player knows that they need to give him the ball in space which will lead to a very good chance of a goalscoring opportunity being created.
No team in the Serie A yet has convinced me that they are champions-elect. This may be one of the most open Scudettos in history. Both Milan and Juventus are struggling whilst Inter have not got going despite picking up the points. Napoli are on a good run now, they are doing what Sarri has asked of them but they have that one magical player. I'm not putting him in the same category as Maradona, but I can at least draw a comparison. All you need is that one true exceptional MIDFIELDER whose job is it to win games for the team by either playing that defense-splitting through ball, or taking it upon himself to get past two players and rifle a shot in the top corner.
HH
